Arch-support.



1. F. TEEHAN. ARCH SUPPORT. APPLICATION F'ILED AUG- 17| 1914.

1l, 1 44,74 l Patented June 29, 1915.

THE NORRIS PETERS Co., PHOTO-LITHD WASHINGTGN, D. C.

in l

.vu a, s

y JQHN F. TEEHAN, QF BROCKTON, MASSAQHUSETTS.

ARCH-SUPPORT.

Application filed August 17, 1914.

T0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN F. TEEHAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brockton, in the countyof Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Arch- Supports, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to arch supports, which form no permanent component part of the shoe, but which are loosely inserted into the shoe so as to be removable therefrom.

The object of the invention is to provide a spring or yielding support, which is adjustable to suit the requirement of the user, which may be anchored in place, and which will tend either' to alleviate or cure flat foot by causing the `foot and the bones thereof to assume proper positions.

'On the accompanying drawings,--Figure 1 represents in section a shoe equipped with one embodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 represents a horizontal section through the shoe above the plane of the arch support. Fig. 3 represents a section longitudinal of the shoe through the support and a portion of the sole. Fig. 4 represents a cross section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 illustrates in perspective view the under side of the arch support detached. Fig. 6 represents a section on the crooked line 6 6 of Fig. 5.

The arch support comprises a body 10 and a transverse concave spring member 11. The body port-ion may be made of any suitable material but preferably I form it of two layers, the upper one 12 of split sole leather, and the lower one 13 of thin leather, canvas or the like, although it may be made of a thin sheet of resilient metal. In length the body portion is sufficient to fit well under the arch of the foot, and may extend from a point behind the breast of the heel of the shoe to the ball of the shoe. The spring member 11, which is preferably quitestiif, is T-shaped. It is arranged transversely of the body 10 with the head of the T lying parallel to what I term the outer straight side of the body. Any suitable fastenings as at 1-1 are employed for securing the head end of the spring and the side margin of the body together. The head of the spring is located between the two layers of the body, and what may be termed the shank of the spring near the head is passed through a slot 15 in the bottom layer 13. The head Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 29, 1915.

serial No. 857,048.

of the spring has one or more hooks 16 along its edge, the function of which is to enter the crease between the outer edge of the innersole a ofthe shoe and the upper so as to anchor the outer side of the arch support to the inner-sole and prevent its being drawn laterally across the innersole. The free end of the spring shank is adapted to be adjustably engaged with the side of the body so as to lift the latter from engagement with the innersole. To this end the body is pnovided with a series of fastening members near its inner and upper side, said members consisting of parallel wires or rods 17, 17.

placed in sockets formed by rows of stitches or other fastenings 18 passed through the two layers of the body.

f p In the form illustrated in the drawing, the under layer 13 of the body is a sheet of canvas and its entire margin, after the wires are placed inA the sockets, is secured to the skived edge of the upper layer 12, by a row of stitches 19. The under layer 13 is apertured as at 2O to eXpose the middle portion of the wires. The end kof the spring shank has a hook 21 and two lips 22, so that it may be engaged with any one of the wires so as to place the body under tension from side to side, the tension varying according to the particular wire engaged by the end of the spring shank. Thus the body of the arch support is hung or supported at or near both side margins with its middle portion free and under tension exerted by the spring. The spring is so bent or curved that it rests upon the innersole, with its free end extending upward to a point remote from the inner edge of the innersole. The concave portion of the arch of the foot thus is held away from the middle portion of the innersole, and rests upon the suspended body portion 10 of the support, which is suiiiciently iieXible to conform thereto.

The body portion of the support may be perforated as indicated at 23. It is preferably initially molded to approximate shape, and it and the spring member are made in various sizes. The curvature of the body is less than that of the spring, but this curvature and the tension are varied by engaging the end of the spring with one or another of .the wires.

Having thus explained the nature of my said invention and described a way of making and using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may-be made or all of the modes of `its use, what I claim is:

1. An arch support comprising a 1tra-nsversely concave flexible body and ay transversely concave spring member, and `means for attaching the ends of said spring member to the sides of the body to suspend said body between said points of attachment.

2. An arch support comprising a transversely concave flexible body portion, a transversely concave spring member, xmeans for permanently securing the outer end of said sp'ring member to the outer side of said body, and means for adjustably attaching the inner end `of said spring member to the inner Y side of the body, said spring exerting tension upon said body in opposite directions so that its 'curvature is less than that of the vspring member.

.3. An-archfs'upport comprising a concave spring adapted to lie transversely of the iin* nersole Vof a shoe, and a flexible concave body "supported vby the ends of the spring with its Imiddle portion drawn by the tension of-said spring away from the middle portion of said spring. v

4. `An arch support comprising a v'transversely concave lspring, a body having its :men't with the outer edge of an innersole.

5. An arch support comprising a concave spring adapted to lie in a shoe ytransversely of the -innersole, a hook on the spring to engage the outer edge of the innersole, the inner end of the spring extending upward above the V inner edge of thel innersole, a body attached adjacent its side edges to said spring and of a curvature less than thatV of the spring, a'nd means Vfor vvarying the curvature of the body.

6. An arch support vvcomprising a transverse metallic member having on one end means for `engaging the outer edge of the innersole of a shoe, the opposite end being curved upwardly, and a 'body portion having its sides attached to the ends of the spring.

.In `testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

, JOHN F. TEEHAN. VVitn'esses Y ELDoRA G fLAwsoN, HARRY L. JONES.

'Copies of this patent may be obtained lfor five cents eacllnby addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington,.D."C. 

